


Headcanon & Bullet Fics

by chinesebakery



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Academy Era, Anniversary, Books, Domestic Fluff, Engagement, F/M, Fluff, Headcanon, Party, Perthshire Cottage, Pets, Pregnancy, Random & Short, Reading, Tumblr Prompt, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-22 02:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7416106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinesebakery/pseuds/chinesebakery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of bullet-based Fitzsimmons ramblings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Engagement Party

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't think to post these here before, but after all, they take the same amount of time and thoughts as a regular ficlet so why not?

  * The engagement party is very low key. With their families living on the other side of the ocean, it’s just them and their friends, aka their old team.
  * Jemma has never missed Daisy as much as she does that evening.
  * Coulson insists on making a speech and it’s the daddiest speech in the history of mankind. Fitz groans the entire time but it’s only for show –he’s so touched, he has to concentrate really hard not to cry.
  * Jemma knows this, of course, and holds his hand under the table.
  * Radcliffe wants to make a speech as well, to no one’s surprise –he likes the sound of his own voice quite a lot. Radcliffe has grown very fond of Fitz (he’s a little scared of Jemma) and thinks the feeling is mutual, but he’s not entirely correct –Fitz admires his intelligence and skills but only trusts him as far as he can throw him.
  * Fortunately, Radcliffe is interrupted by the sudden appearance of two very special guests –Bobbi and Hunter.
  * (May spent ages secretly tracking them for the occasion. She hasn’t found Daisy yet, but there’s still time before the actual wedding. She’s not worried.)
  * Jemma is delighted. She’s missed them very much, and she misses having a female friend. She has May of course, but it’s not the same. May would never ask in thinly-veiled innuendo how she and Fitz have been doing.
  * (They’ve been doing great, thanks for asking.)
  * Hunter keeps slapping Fitz on the back and grinning like an idiot. His smile is very contagious.
  * He also keeps refilling Fitz’s glass until Jemma cuts him off –all it takes is a pointed glare.
  * Unfortunately, Hunter is not so easily impressed. Before the evening his over, he drunkenly serenades them with “Wonderwall” and declares it their song.
  * When they crawl into bed at the end of the evening, exhausted and still a little tipsy, Fitz falls asleep almost immediately.
  * Jemma doesn’t. This is not a drill. She’s engaged to marry her best friend in the world. 
  * She can hardly wait.




	2. Pets

  * It actually becomes a bit of a sore subject after they move to Perthshire
  * Fitz is very eager to get one –or, better yet, several.
  * He grew up with both a cat and a dog. The cat was big and old and lazy –he doesn’t remember that cat ever willingly running after anything. The dog was a labrador mix with the friendliest face. Oddly enough, they got along famously.
  * Jemma, for her part, is much more reluctant. She also had a dog, growing up, a barking mad irish setter named Ruby –sweet, beautiful, but uncontrollable.
  * When Jemma was 9 or 10, Ruby was run over by a car, and Jemma was inconsolable for a very, very long time. (She was the one who hadn’t properly closed the gates, although her parents had warned her many times about it.)
  * After that, her parents regularly suggested they got another dog, but Jemma was vehemently opposed the idea. She never wanted to have a pet again, ever.
  * Their Perthshire cottage is quite remote, though, and not many cars drive by.
  * And they have such a nice little garden, it would be a waste, really.
  * Besides, they’re thinking of starting a family. Surely, Jemma knows that studies show the many benefits of pets for small children?
  * After months of arguing, Fitz finally wears her down, under the promise of only taking home the most placid dog in the shelter.
  * They come home with a three-legged firecracker of a dog named Lucy, who looks to be always smiling. However, she is decidedly not placid.
  * They never say it outloud, but she reminds them both very much of their former boss. Not for the missing paw –it’s her smile. They have the exact same smile, it’s uncanny.
  * When their daughter is born, Lucy guards her crib night after night and it’s the sweetest thing.
  * Once they really find their footing with the new baby (which takes about two years), Fitz decides it’s time for more pets and mentally prepares to battle with Jemma for another six months…
  * …needlessly, it turns out. 




	3. First Anniversary

  * Picking the actual anniversary date is more complicated than it seems. Fitz finally settles for their second kiss, because the one in the lab doesn’t count, and it seems rude to count down from the next ‘first’.
  * He has planned a romantic dinner for weeks, and booked a hotel room somewhere nice, where nosy teammates with wandering ears aren’t a concern.  
  * (The room also has a gigantic bathtub, which was, incidentally, his very favorite thing during their Seychelles trip.)
  * Of course, nothing goes according to plan. That day, there’s an actual explosion in the lab, a dangerous 0-8-4 is uncovered and Radcliffe almost manages to get himself kidnapped.
  * Those events are all unrelated. That’s how hectic their day is.
  * At the end of it, they’re both so weary they agree to skip dinner and crash in their gigantic hotel bed. Fitz has never been so thankful for room service in his life.
  * (Never one to admit defeat, Jemma sets the alarm an hour earlier than usual so they can at least enjoy the tub before work.)
  * Their first wedding anniversary isn’t much better.
  * Jemma is 33 weeks pregnant and her new pal Braxton Hicks insists on joining the celebrations.
  * Fitz gets so worried, watching her wince over and over, he drives her to the ER even though she insists it’s entirely unnecessary.
  * Jemma’s examined by an intern who seems too young to be in the hospital without a parent or guardian present and looks like he hasn’t slept in a week. Fitz is instantly suspicious.
  * When the intern suggests Jemma needs some rest and might want to take it easy until the end of the pregnancy, Fitz changes his mind and declares the young doctor a medical genius.
  * He later admits that pointing at Jemma with a triumphant “Ah-ah!” might have been a little puerile.
  * From that moment on, Jemma rolls her eyes so hard and so often, it’s a wonder her optic nerve isn’t damaged at all.
  * Fitz eventually apologizes, but the mood is irreparably dampened. 
  * Jemma suggests they concentrate on the 364 others days of the year, since anniversaries don’t seem to work for them.
  * Fitz agrees –in theory. A month later, he begins planning for their second anniversary.




	4. Jessie Spano

  * Everybody always expects her to get the best grades because she’s a Genius™. They don’t realize how hard she works for them. No one ever does. Well, except for Fitz, but his default is to mock her for it (he doesn’t mean harm but it still stings).
  * The Academy is by far the most competitive environment she has ever known. It’s _ruthless_ , and she’s so young. It’s incredibly destabilizing.
  * At some point toward the end of the first year (or is it the second?) she pulls a [Jessie Spano](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbflYjF90t7c&t=MmE0MTU5ZjExNGNkMjdjZDMxZDJjZmRmOTFiMDYyYTYzNWUxOWE3YyxGanhqaTBkWA%3D%3D).
  * She doesn’t take caffeine pills, of course, she’s not _that_ basic. Instead, she designs her own stimulant.
  * It works wonders. She’s not tired anymore, ever. She’s sharp. She’s focused. She’s the effortless genius everyone always expected her to be.
  * Of course, after two or three weeks, things begin deteriorating. Fast.
  * She barely sleeps three hours a night because her brain never shuts up and her heart is racing 24/7. She’s so excited. She’s so scared. She looks like death itself.
  * Sometimes, she blacks out. It’s terrifying, but at first she manages to hide it. Or so she thinks.
  * But Fitz is not an idiot. He has eyes, and he pays attention. When he finally confronts her, she breaks down and promises never to do do it again, if he’ll keep her secret.
  * He stays by her side through the worst of it.
  * And from that moment on, he keeps an eagle eye on her, especially during finals. He’s always in her space. It’s _so annoying_.
  * But also oddly comforting.
  * He never mentions it directly. He finds other ways to let her know he’s there, if she needs him.
  * If he wasn’t her best friend before, he certainly is after that.




	5. Walter Bishop

  * It only takes about three weeks for one of them to accidentally consume something LSD-laced (probably Fitz, let’s be real). The other is NOT amused.
  * He finds Jemma’s feistiness wonderful and encourages it at every turn, even (especially) when it’s aimed at him.
  * Janis. Gina. Jasmine. Jeannette. Giselle. Glenda. Georgia. Walter only gets Jemma’s name right when Fitz is in serious danger.
  * He becomes very invested in the success of Fitz and Jemma’s relationship. When they have to work late, he frequently suggests they take a break to engage in coitus.
  * Jemma’s tendency to overshare and Walter’s eagerness make for an explosive combination. Fitz’s BSOD face makes frequent appearances in the lab.
  * Despite all that, he and Fitz get along famously. They have a lot in common (notably science & food). 
  * And of course, Fitz misses a father and Walter, a son. It’s something neither of them discusses. Ever. But somehow they both know.
  * PS: Walter is the biggest crier at their wedding.




	6. Reading

  * Jemma’s the studious one. It’s not unusual for her to read scientific studies in bed before she goes to sleep.
  * Fitz would _never_ do that, he’s not insane, thank you. 
  * He likes everything, as long as it has an engrossing story.
  * He reads a lot of political thrillers and crime novels –as long as they’re low on gore, he’s a little squeamish. 
  * They better be coherent though, he tends to give up on them at the first blatant inconsistency.
  * And yes, Jemma does like romance novels. Some of them anyway – she’s very picky with those. 
  * Must-haves include really good banter, a bright and witty heroine, and a hero that’s both whip-smart and kind. A dash of well-written smut is always a plus.
  * In Perthshire, they have an entire room dedicated to reading, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, the most comfortable couch ever, and of course, an electric kettle on hand.
  * Before they have kids, they spend many lazy Sundays in there, snuggling together with a plaid blanket on their legs.
  * That room always, always smells of tea and books, which, if you ask Jemma, is the scent of happiness.




	7. Moving to Perthshire

  * International moving, how hard can it be, right?
  * They don’t own a lot of stuff, anyway, after years of living on Shield bases. They have books, clothes and electronic devices in spades, but not spoons, or shower curtains, or clothes hangers. They don’t own a microwave or a washing machine. Shield provided all that. 
  * Jemma, being the master at preparation that she is, organizes everything. Here’s the plan: they spend the night in a nearby B&B, then drive to their cottage and wait for the movers. And later that day, they’re expecting a massive delivery with actual furniture and appliances (and spoons). It’s perfect!
  * Except of course nothing goes as planned.
  * Some of the boxes got inexplicably wet. Most of their clothes now smell of mildew.
  * The delivery’s late. Where the hell are they?
  * Also, the internet provider company calls. They can’t make it tomorrow as planned. How about next week?
  * Turns out the delivery truck broke down, there’ll be a 48h delay.
  * Jemma’s in the throes of despair. She thought setting up their own lab would be the real challenge here. _That_ was supposed to be easy.
  * Fitz won’t let her cry on their very first day in their beautiful (empty) cottage. 
  * His good mood only falters for a minute after she points out they don’t have a fridge or anything to cook with.
  * Then he remembers he’s moving with the love of his life in her dream house (which is now by extension his dream house as well) and that trumps pretty much everything else.
  * Jemma has to agree.
  * They don’t have a bed, but they baptize their new bedroom anyway.




	8. "I'm a techie, you're the lead actor in a show" AU

  * Jemma’s a bright and shiny young star, THE Brit import to watch out for. She has a fairly lengthy filmography already but the general public is only discovering her now after a couple indie movies she starred in turned into surprise hits.
  * Everybody and their pets think she should rebrand as a quirky romantic lead, but she hates the idea. She wants to be Jodie Foster, not Katherine Heigl, and she won’t dumb it down for fame.
  * Fitz’s a young and talented director of photography whose work has been consistently noticed and praised, but he has a terrible reputation. He’s said to be moody, volatile, nit-picky and generally very difficult to work with.
  * Turns out some of the most ambitious projects are on TV nowadays. Jemma’s offered a part she just can’t refuse. The pilot’s script is smart, unique and artsy, edgy without being crass. If it’s picked up, she would have 13 hours of screen time to develop the most complex woman she’s ever had the chance to portray. Not to mention, Jemma’s been dying to work with the show’s creator, Melinda May.
  * Melinda’s a little scary, but she’s exactly the kind of women Jemma wants to work with. She feels like she has a lot to learn from her. If you intend to bully, intimidate or discriminate against Melinda May, well, good luck to you!
  * When Jemma finds out Fitz’s name is attached to the project, she’s both excited and a little nervous. She’s heard her fair share of horror stories about him.
  * Turns out he's… not at all what she expected? He’s really quiet, mostly, with a little burst of temper here and there.
  * Although, to be fair, he clearly isn’t a people person, and he has a (very) low tolerance for frustration. Or basic social interactions. She can’t tell at first if he’s shy or if he merely dislikes her on sight.
  * It’s the former. Which is a good thing, ‘cause she finds herself quite intrigued by him.
  * They get along immediately and effortlessly. They just get each other, much to everybody else’s surprise.
  * They’re the only tea drinkers on set. They don’t really plan it or discuss it in any way, but within the first couple of days, they find a routine –quiet stolen moments, just the two of them and a couple of steamy paper cups.
  * He’s really passionate about his work, and wants to direct some day. And he’s the first person she dares to tell of her own secret ambition to produce, eventually. He says she’d be brilliant at it, and she’s thrilled. Not just that he thinks so but that HE thinks so.
  * That day she realizes she’s interested in Fitz. _Interested_ interested. But they might be working together for a whole year, or several if everything goes well, so it’s not really a good time to start something (assuming he’s even on the same page).
  * Shooting wraps much faster than she would have liked. She’s not surprised that she misses seeing him everyday but she certainly didn’t expect to feel it so deeply.
  * When she realizes she wants to tell him of her daily triumphs and annoyances, they start texting daily, then something akin to hourly. It’s not the same, though.
  * As expected, they’re never needed for post-production at the same time. It’s hardly surprising, but still disappointing.
  * The buzz around the project keeps growing. Before the pilot is even finished being edited, the show’s already touted as the new new True Detective. It’s a lot of pressure and Jemma’s getting angsty to see the finished product.
  * They don’t see each other again until the day the pilot is shown to the big wigs. She’s more nervous than she lets on. It’s a business meeting, but it feels like something else entirely.
  * Watching the pilot is a bit of a shock. She’s always dreaded watching herself –all she sees is the flaws, the awkwardness, the falseness she’s the only one to notice. But this time, it’s different. _She_ looks different, radiant and indomitable.
  * It’s not Melinda, she realizes, it’s all Fitz. This is how he sees her. It’s his light shining on her.
  * She barely pays attention to the screen, all she can think about is how to best tell him that she feels the same way. She rewrites the speech several time in her head.
  * When they’re finally alone, very few words are spoken.
  * She’s not the least bit worried when the pilot is picked up. Turns out they’re working very well together, in every possible way.




	9. Fitzsimmons Wedding

  * Fitz is the one who wants to get married, and soon.
  * Jemma’s fine with their current arrangement. They’re working together, eating together, sleeping together (showering together whenever they can get away with it). Their names have been merged for ages. They share a laundry basket. For all intents and purposes, they _are_  married.
  * But he likes the idea of standing in front of their friends and family to proclaim his love. To swear before witnesses that he’ll be hers till death do them part (although he might not mention death at all, because, well). He wants to stick it to the cosmos.
  * Also, who doesn’t like a good wedding buffet?
  * Since he keeps bringing it up, she starts thinking about it. After what feels like forever (but in reality it’s only been a few months) she formally proposes.
  * She’s considered waiting for his birthday but that’s in _months_ and once her decision is made, she wants to get started right away. 
  * She doesn’t get down on one knee, but she does give him a teary-eyed speech about everything he means to her and how she can’t imagine a future without him.
  * In true Fitz’s fashion, he asks when she’ll be expecting his answer? He needs to mull it over, because, you see, he’s been thinking and YES YES HE’LL MARRY HER.
  * (That was a fun night. Good thing she thought to book a room off base.)
  * But a wedding seems like such a _job_. One she doesn’t have the time or mental energy to take on. Agonizing over the perfect font for a Save-the-date seems a bit futile when a few months earlier, you were fighting for survival on an alien planet.
  * Jemma suggests they elope, but he’ll have none of it. His mother might never forgive him, and he doesn’t want to give her any tools for blackmail (she’s started bugging him about grand-children about two months after he broke the news of their relationship).
  * As much as they’d like to keep it low-key, pointed questions about “their future” are coming from left and right before they even start telling people. They have a feeling Coulson would get very sore if they kept things family only.
  * She gets into it. Oh boy, does she get into it. Their wedding-planner comes close to having a nervous breakdown (Jemma’s very hands-on with all the proceedings, you see). She’s not a bridezilla by any stretch of the imagination, though. It’s just that she wants to be prepared for all eventualities, and Jemma Simmons’ eventualities are not most people’s eventualities.
  * Fitz is involved as well, especially when it comes to tasting things. He takes those tastings extremely seriously.
  * Jemma doesn’t want to wear white because she hates that symbol. Instead she chooses a rather simple but statuesque dress in a pretty, pale blue that reminds her of his eyes. When she tells him so, demanding that he recognizes how romantic she can be, he just rolls said-eyes and reminds her that if she’d had her way, they might have gotten married in their work clothes in-between briefings.
  * When the day comes, there are no catastrophic happenstances, no alien destructions or otherworldly demons. It’s just the two of them and all their love ones, celebrating a love that beat all the odds. More powerful than the cosmos and stronger than death itself.
  * It doesn’t matter that she steps on her beautiful dress and tears part of the hem, or that he’s regrettably clean-shaven (at his mother’s insistence) when she prefers him _not_. Many things don’t go as planned, but all that matters to Jemma is Fitz’s evident happiness and the way he’s looking at her –simultaneously sinful and reverent.
  * That day, they miss some of their friends, but they’ve learned to do with what they have, and each other is enough. Each other is plenty.




	10. Sound of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is 100% inspired by Art Brut's [Sound of Summer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O54om9-Qmi0).

  * Fitz and Jemma have known each other since childhood. They don’t see each other during the school year, but they find each other again every summer. Jemma’s parents have a summer house in Scotland and Fitz stays home during the holidays.
  * They bicker all the time but they love playing together.
  * When they become teenagers, their relationship evolves a little, although they both pretend it doesn’t.
  * They definitely notice the way the other is changing. Oh boy, do they notice.
  * It’s the 80’s or early 90’s –no internet, no cellphones, no CD’s.
  * They don’t really “play” anymore but they can talk for hours about anything and everything. Bests and worsts, the meaning of life, the last book they read.
  * They like to listen to music together, holed up in Fitz’s room (Jemma’s parents only tolerate classical music in their house but Fitz’s mum doesn’t mind).
  * The year they’re 15 or 16, they start exchanging mixtapes.
  * “Play and record / Held down together / Tabs pushed off / So you can’t tape over it ever”
  * The songs they pick for each other– well, let’s just say the lyrics aren’t entirely meaningless.
  * So they begin to piece things together. Alone in bed with headphones on their head.
  * “It can’t be just me / That’s working it out / These songs that we’ve chosen / And what they’re about”
  * It’s almost the end of summer. They won’t see each other for ten whole months. Only one last tape. They’ve got to make it count.
  * Jemma suggests they listen together, one song from her tape, one from his, etc.
  * They listen with pounding hearts and sweaty hands and timid but insistent glances.
  * They don’t even realize they’re reaching for each other.
  * They don’t know who kisses who first, and whose song was playing at the time.
  * But they don’t make it to the end of either tape.




End file.
